Friend of Frost
by Timetrixter22
Summary: Jack didn't spend three-hundred years alone, how could he? Before the Guardians and the kids, he had another friend, one who's been asleep for a very long time; and now he's waking up. Jack Frost is about to get back an old friend, The Kid in the Clouds.
1. Awakening

Friend of Frost

A/N: I don't own RoTG, if I did, there would already be news of a sequel because there is no way I would be able to survive on just one.

Look a line a break

It was New Years Eve when it happened. North was recovering from the annual Christmas party, Bunny was busy preparing for Easter (as usual), Tooth was taking a night off from coordination and was collecting teeth, and Sandy was sailing on his ship granting peaceful dreams to all the children. The only one not overly busy (or mildly hung over from eggnog), was Jack. The Winter Sprit had long since returned to his new home, as he was not overly busy at this time of year. After causing a brief snow shower over New York, and frosting the surrounding area, he had flown directly back to the pole.

North had offered Jack a home there, at least until his own was finished, and he had eagerly accepted, quickly settling in while the lake expanded. While previously Jack had had only a small sect to call his own, the increasing belief from children around the world was rapidly expanding his domain. He had only noticed this once the ice cracked beneath him while he slept; the only thing that had kep the pale boy from falling in was the timely intervention of the ever present wind. Once he had told the tattooed of this fact, the Russia had practically forced Jack to stay until his own home ceased it's expansion. In fact, Jack was due to check on it any day now, and see if the shifting ice had settled yet.

Currently Jack was standing on a balcony connected to his room and pondering which part of the world he should bring his fun too. He still had a couple more months until he would have to hibernate, and the time he required his extended 'naps' as he called them, was rapidly dwindling as he gained power from the childrens belief. Gazing at the Arctic ice, Jack was considering visiting Bunny when he saw it. Above the pole, a cloud was forming where no cloud should be. The irregular puff quickly expanded until it formed what could only be described as an arrow. An arrow that was pointing at him, as ridiculous as it seemed.

Jack shifted a bit, and the cloud above seemed to twitch ever so slightly. Eyes widening, Jack moved back, and again, the cloud seemed to shift the tiniest bit. Deciding to test his theory, Jack left the balcony, dashing through his doorway, and flew to the other end of the workshop. When he poked his head out, he could swear the cloud was still pointing at him. Jumping, Jack called to the Wind to catch him, and his friend obliged, wrapping around the Winter Sprite, and spiriting him away from the shop. Even as he sailed away, the Wind rushing through his hair, Jack could see the cloud turning and warping, as it shifted it's shape trying to pin him down. Calling to the Wind again, Jack requested that it take him back. With a whistle that sounded suspiciously like a sigh, the Wind agreed, and Jack slowed, before shooting back to the shop.

When he arrived, Jack made his way to Norths room, only to be blocked by Phil. The large brown Yeti stood infront of Norths door, furry arms crossed over his chest, and a firm, but not mean expression on his face. After trying (and failing) to convince the Yeti to let him pass, Jack gave up and went back to his room. When around five minutes had passed, Jack flew out his window, and around to Norths, only to find it locked. Knocking on it, Jack saw the older guardians form stir, only to recoil when Phil's face sprang out of nowhere, mustache flaring. Grinning sheepishly, Jack floated away and back to his room. Touching down, he turned his gaze to the moon, and tried to contact Manny. Unfortunately, the moon remained mute to his questions, only gleaming and slightly flickering with a light that made it seem as if it was chuckling.

Sighing, Jack turned away and lay on his bed. North was out (literally), Manny was being. . . Manny, Phil would no doubt have locked down the Snow Globe room by now, so teleporting was out of the question, and the others were to far away to fly to in any descent amount of time; not without going up and out, and he hadn't done that in years, not since-. Jack heaved a sigh before shaking himself; that line of thinking would only depress him. Jumping up, Jack landed on the metal girder at the foot of his bed wit the grace of a jungle cat. Glancing around his room, he waited for some brilliant idea to strike him. When non came, he wondered back out to the balcony, where, wouldn't you know it, the cloud still pointed at it. The sight of such an in approriately placed cloud made his stomach heavy and he felt something well up in the back of his throat. Jack shook himself once more and tore his gaze away from the stalkerish cloud. He glanced out over the snow field and sighed once more. It looked like Jack would just have to wait.

-Gasp- Another line break

Elsewhere, about fifteen minutes ago, on a bank of clouds that hadn't moved in twenty years, a figure stirred. Slowly, the figure sat up, the size and shape of a teenage boy, wearing the clothes of a teenage boy, the figure was in fact, a teenage boy, one who had been asleep for a very long time. Sitting up, and peering out of bleary eye's partially obscured by blond hair, the boy realized something very important. It was night, and the last time he had been awake, the sun had just begun to set. "Jack, is so gonna kill me", he said. Standing, the boy leaped into the air, only to fall flat on his face. Thankfully, clouds are soft, when they wan't to be anyway, other times, not so much.

After pulling himself up, the boy realized he was missing something. Searching through the cloud bank, he sifted through bits of white before his hands secured around somethings solid. Pulling it up, the boy held the item in his hand. Long, and a light brown, the staff stretched to about five feet, and at the tip was a swirl of cloud, from which a thin stem of yet more cloud stretched back. Gripping the staff, the boy once again launched himself into the air and this time, he stayed there, buoyed by the ever present if invisible Wind.

Before he could make any move to travel though, an impulse hit the boy. Swirling his fingers, bits of cloud formed around it and, with a flick, the boy sent it whirring off where it quickly grew in size until it formed a small swirling cloud above the city below. The cloud drew in more clouds, until it became a large, formless entity, lined with silver edges. All over the city, children who were still awake began to think, and to create things inside their minds, and when they were done they acted. Some drew, some wrote, some sang, and when they looked up into the sky, they saw amazing shapes and wonders, as the formless cloud broke apart, and began to change.

Grinning, the boy on the cloud floated down, hovering on a small white puff. The city was large, and very bright. On a giant billboard, he caught sight of a name, "So I'm in San Francisco huh", the boy mused. "I wonder what day it is", he murmured as he sailed through the streets, the flashing lights and the sounds of the city further awakening him, and the boy whooped. However, when he caught sight of an electric billboard, he gaped. The day was the same, December thirty-first, but the year, the year was "two-thousand twelve", he said as he felt the breath leave him. "I've been sleeping for twenty years", he said as he felt his stomach lurch. A great knawing pit opened inside him, and he felt guilt course through him.

Suddenly, he straightened, "I gotta find Jack", he said, before calling into the clouds, asking them to find his friend. Above him, a small arrow formed from the white ceiling and shot off, and the boy dashed after it. As he soared over the bed, the boy thought _Jack's_ so _going to kill me_.

The two line breaks have fused to form Linebreaker

And there is the first chapter of my first RoTG fic, so tell me what you think. Also, anyone wanna guess what the cloud kid is the Guardian off. By the way, does anyone have any idea for another word for cloud? Until next time, TT22 is out ( I need a new ending phrase).


	2. You're a what now?

Friend of Frost

A/N: Well, here's the second chapter of my Friend of Frost fanfic, although that's probably obvious because the story is _called_ Friend of Frost, and this is the second chapter, sooooo never mind. On with the show.

Super line break

As the kid from the cloud flew over a small town in Alaska, he pondered. If he had been sleeping for the past twenty years, wht had happened to Jack? Whatever it was, he doubted it would be good, and so he tried to prepare himself for the worst. Maybe Jack had simply gone somewhere cold for the last two decades. Unfortunately, that would likely mean that his friend had gone a little off his rocker. However, he didn't find that very likely; there was no way Jack could resist the call of mischief for that long, right? So if Jack hadn't become a crazy ice hermit, what did happen? The boy was promptly cut off from his musing by the disappearance of his little seeker cloud. The boy didn't despair however; even as his cloud went puff before his eyes, a familiar feeling awoke in his gut, guiding him toward his destination.

The boy continued on his way for another hour or so, avoiding using his faster means of transportation in favor of accuracy. It was as he was over a small sect of islands that he felt his gut tug him toward an empty space in the air. Shrugging his shoulders as he flew, he entered the area his stomach tugged him to, and found himself in a rainbow colored void. Coming out of the kaleidoscopic realm, he caught sight of a large arrowish shaped cloud. With a grin, he set off with a fresh burst of speed, leaving a white trail in his wake as he set off for the arrow.

Soaring over the snowy expanse, the kid laughed; the sound echoing in the empty air. Dipping in and out of the white masses, spining as he did so, he laughed again, the sound full of joy. After another fifteen seconds of flying, the boy came to the edge of the giant arrow, and looked down. There, sitting like a red blot on blank canvas, was a gigantic workshop.

Grinning in anticipation, the boy flew up ever so slowly, arched his body, and then _shot_ at the ground, accelerating at the work shop that he would later learn was the property of one Nicholas St. North. Stopping at about fifty feet in the air, the boy floated down.

He was almost to the ground, his feet nearly brushing the white powder, when he saw it. A head of shocking white, connected to a familiar neck, and an unfamiliar hoodie that was propped up on an arm leaning on a balcony. With a whoop of joy, the boy rushed toward the owner of the head, one Jackson Frost. With a thump, he collided with Jack, and the two fell off the balcony. As the two fell, Jacks stafflet loose a bolt of energy into the air, brings a small snowfall down on them.

"JACK!", the boy cried, as he strangled his friend with a hug.

"Wha- Cloud, is that you?" Jack questioned as his vision returned, his voice filled with a mix of shock and hope.

Sitting up in the snow, his friend replied ,"Yep, it's me, I guess I'm a little late huh", he said sheepishly, snowflakes falling on his head as he grinned.

"But, how are you-? a-and I thought", before Jack could finish his half worded sentences though, he was interrupted by the boomerang that crashed into the boy's, now known as Cloud, head.

Immediately, Cloud decided to add another few hours to his twenty year nap. Jack looked up to find Bunnymund staring over the balcony with Sandy, Toothiana, and North, with a Phil and a few of the Yetis standing beside them.

Looking up at the bunny incredulously, Jack gaped at him as he drawled, "Well, what's going on here Frostbite, whose the kid?"

Jack scowled at the rabbit before he gestured to some yetis to carry the fallen boy inside. As Jack walked inside the building he sighed, this was going to take a while. Come to think of it, he didn't even know what to say, he had just been randomly tackled by his best friend who vanished twenty years ago. His immediate reaction was to hug the unconcious boy just as he himself had been a few moments ago; his next reaction was to wring his neck. His emotions were colliding inside of him like a storm. Part of him wanted to cry, and the other wanted to shout. Jack shook his head and went with sighing again, this was definitely going to take a while.

And yet another line break

Groaning, Cloud sat up, and found himself lying on a comfortable couch. Shaking his head, he looked around and saw that the room he was in was a bright red, and that it was lit by a roaring fire.

The room had two different doors, one that was a simple plain brown, and another was a set of mahogany doors carved with faint images. Sitting up, Cloud looked around for his staff, and saw that it was nowhere to be found.

He was about to start searching when the doors on the other side of the room opened, and the Guardians and Jack walked in.

"Look", Jack was saying, "I honestly don't know wha-." he was cut off by the sight of Cloud peering at the group expectantly.

There were a few seconds of silence, and then "JACK!", the blond haired teen launched himself at the ice spirit once again, latching around him in a massive hug and laughing.

Jack laughed along with him and hugged back, that is until his face began to turn purple, "You're . . . choking . . . me" he managed to eek out, causing Cloud to let go, grinning sheepishly as he did.

"Hey wait," Cloud said suddenly, turning toward the Guardians, "what are they doing here, and come to think of it, where_ is _here? You didn't become a crazy ice hermit like I thought, did you?" At this Jack chuckled nervously, before gesturing helplessly to the others. North was the first to take action, and he stepped forward, mouth formed into a giant smile.

"Thiz iz my vorkshop, and my home", he said joyously, "and we are here because this was closest place for friend of Jack." "OK, but _why_ is Jack even here, you weren't exactly on the best of terms last time I checked."

Jack scowled slightly at this, "Yeah well, the last time you checked was about twenty years ago, you wanna explain that?"

"I was sleeping," Cloud said defensively, Jack stared doubtfully, "really" Cloud said indignantly.

"And just _why_, exactly, were you sleepin' for two decades?" Bunnymund questioned, eying the younger spirit suspiciously.

"I don't know, it's a blur, one minute I'm cruising over the Baltic sea, dipping in and out of the cloudbank, the next thing, is, well, nothing".

"Nothing?" Tooth asked curiously.

"Nothing" Cloud reiterated, "everything's just a blank after that."

Though Jack still looked doubtful, his joy at finding his friend again outweighed any misgivings. "So I'll ask again, what are they doing here?"

"Ve vanted to care for our friend and fellow Guardian"

"Oh, well I guess it's cool that you guys are- Wait, what?"

"Thats right" Tooth said fluttering excitedly, "Jacks one of us."

"Jack . . . is a Guardian."

"That's what we're saying mate" Bunny said somewhat irritatedly.

"Yeah" Jack said smiling, "I'm a Guardian now".

Cloud was silent for a moment . . . but only for a moment. "Bwahaha, oh that is just", Cloud was convulsing on the floor in laughter, fists pounding against the ground, "bwahahaha, ahahahahah, ahhhhh, man, that is funny".

Scowling, Jack whacked Cloud over the head with his staff "It's not a joke, _I_, he announced, "am the Guardian of Fun." For a moment, it looked as if Cloud would fall into peals of laughter again, but eventually, he managed to reign his smile in.

"That's great Jack, so I guess this means you finally have some believers now, huh?"

"Oh yeah", Jack said smile growing ever wider, "there's this kid, Jaime, he was the first."

"Awesome, I guess that's one side of our list down."

"List?" Tooth questioned.

"Yeah, after Jack and I became friends, we made a list of things to do"

"The only things on it were _"Get believers for Jack"_, and_ "Get believers for Cloud."_

"It was a pretty small list" Cloud admitted.

"It was our most difficult list" Jack added.

"It was our _only_ list" Cloud finished.

As the other Guardians looked back and forth between the two as they chattered, they couldn't help think that they looked similar, almost like brothers **[1]**. The pair fell into a rythmic beat of taunting, laughing, and mischevious smiles that they should _probably _do something about, because one Jack was bad enough, but **two**? It took a few seconds for the Guardians to realize that the two hand since stopped talking, and were now looking at them quizzically. "Vhat?" North asked.

"Why are you staring at us?" the two replied in unison. Before the Guardians could answer them, an elf ran into the room, and right into the but end of Jacks staff.

The small, jingling creature froze instantly, making a pointy tipped elf-cicle.

"Hey wait a second, where's **my** staff?", Cloud asked glancing at the guardians.

"Dunno mate, it was here when we left" Bunnymund answered, mildly warming to the younger spirit, his familiarity with Jack putting him slightly at ease. Anyone that could earn the frost spirits trust deserved the benefit of the doubt; there was no need not to be cordial at least.

The answer to Clouds question was revealed when another elf ran into the room, brandishing a large brown stick, which Jack realized was Clouds staff, sans puff. Looking around, the elf spotted his frozen companion, and ran over to it.

"Hey, don't worry", Jack said gently, trying assuage the elf's concern, I'll have you friend out in-" Jack was stopped by the other elf's whacking of Cloud's staff against it's icy brethren, attempting to smash it with glee on it's face.

At the sight of his staff, Cloud reached forward and snatched it out of the elf's hand, a white whisp curling from his hand, and sliding on and up the staff before settling at the top in it's usual shape.

"Ahh, that feels better, Cloud announced absent mindedly floating up into the air where Jack quickly joined him. The blond haired spirit drifted about, enjoying the return of his abilities for a few minutes before he realized that the Guardians were looking at him expectantly. Floating back down, Cloud felt a tug at his pants leg and turned to see the elf from before. Looking up at the teen with wide eyes the elf held out it's hands for his staff.

"Ummm, no" Cloud said before turning back to the Guardians.

"So, vhat is it that you vill be doing now?" North asked.

"I don't know, I mean, I _was_ supposed to meet up with Jack, but I'm ever so slightly late for that."

"Maybe just a bit", his friend replied.

"And with Jack being a Guardian now", Cloud frowned, "I suppose that you won't have a lot of time for little old me" at this Cloud pouted.

"Nope, none at all" Jack said in a chipper tone. Cloud crossed his arms and glared and him. "Ok, ok, I'm kidding."

Cloud continued his glaring for a few more seconds before his frown cracked into a grin, and the two boys began laughing again.

Sandy, who until now had been his usual silent self frowned; something was wrong. Attempting to get the others attention, he began forming sand images, that is until he remembered what happened last time. Tapping his foot on the air, his face lit up, and he began to gather his sand. Before he could make use of his summoned sand though, North gasped.

The large Russian man reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out a small, vibrating hour glass. The glass was filled with a small amount of dream sand, which was shaking at higher and higher speeds. Before the groups eyes, the sand changed from bright gold to a lighter sheen, the sand continuing it's movements until the glass shattered.

"What was that?" Cloud and Jack questioned simultaneously.

"It was one o' Sandy's Hour Glasses, it's set up tah' warn us if that bugger Pitch comes back"

"The glasses are connected to special sand barriers Sandy made after Pitch's attack" Tooth continued, fluttering worriedly, wings becoming almost nonexistant as the flittered. Tooth glanced around the room for any twisting shadows, before returning to wondering about how her fairies were.

"Relax Tooth, your Hour Glass isn't actin' up is it?"

"No, I suppose not"

"Then everythin's gonna be fine" Bunnymund said comfortingly.

Cloud just looked confused before asking Jack "Are they talking about, Pitch Black, what does the Boogie Man have to do with this?"

"Well, about a year ago, there was this whole thing where Pitch tried to take over the world, and destroy the Guardians, and yeah, a lot of stuff happened while you were out".

North once again interrupted everyone with the very salient statement of "Pitch is HERE! we do not have ze time for zis", and with that he strode out of the room. Shaking themselves the other Guardians and sky spirit nodded and ran (or flew) after the large man. As they neared the door, they stopped as North's head briefly popped back in "Oh, and Sandy, vhy didn't you varn us." The small floating man briefly considered hitting him with a sand hammer, but thought better of it, after all, he did like his Christmas presents.

The group continued on their way, blurring past the yeti's and elf's, the later of whom were running in terror, and burst through the final doors, stepping out into the snow. At first, none of the Guardians, nor Cloud saw anything odd about the white void stretched before them. Then, Sandy spotted something in the sky, and pointed, forming a giant golden foam finger when the others didn't notice.

Hovering in the sky, a figure drenched in blackness stood out like fire on an ocean. The figure descended partially, until details were distinguishable. A sharp nose, spiky hair dark as ebony, and with skin like gray alabaster. "Hello Guardians" the figure said, voice filled with unmistakable rage.

Their reply was short "Hello Pitch"

The super line break from before uses final line break

Le gasp, it was Pitch, I bet _none_ of you saw _that_ coming.

[1] No, they're not literal brothers, they're just such close friends that they well they might as well be.

**Important A/N:** Well, after several weeks of nothing, here it is, the second chapter of- oh wait, I already said this, heh, whoops. Anyway, thank you all for your reviews, I cherish every one of them, and really one is all that's really needed . . . not that I wouldn't like more, and it would probably speed things up- oh well on to the important bit. I am in need of someone who can write things in a Australian accent for Bunnymund, I tried it a few times in this chapter, but I'm just not satisfied, so if anyone wants to volunteer, feel free to review or PM me. By the way, can any of you guess what Cloud will become the Guardian of (Because you know he's going to become one).


	3. Smackdown

Friend of Frost

A/N: This chapter is, for once, _not_ incredibly late for whatever reason. So, since I have nothing to ramble about right now, here's the chapter, enjoy.

I call upon the power of the line break

Pitch glared down at the Guardians, contempt etched into every recess of his face. They, the only ones who dared oppose him, _him,_ the King of Nightmares, bringer of terror, master of darkness _-but you __weren't always, not like this- _shaking his head, Pitch rid himself of that pestering voice, and concentrated on his objective right now, namely the destruction of those meddlesome fools.

"So Jack, how are you enjoying being one of the Big Four, no wait, I suppose it's the Big Five now, isn't it". Glaring contemptuously at the six below hi- wait, six? Recounting, Pitch realized that, yes indeed, there were six of them. "Well hello", he said, tone changing to one of gentle mockery, "and who might this be, some kind of junior Guardian". Cloud merely scowled, grip tightening on his staff. "Oh, it seems I've upset him".

"What do you want Pitch", Jack demanded scowling at the dark man.

"Oh you know, a little fear, a little mayhem, the immediate and complete destruction of the Guardians", he paused for a moment, "of course, my offer still stands, you can still join me Jack." Cloud looked at Jack, eyes wide and eyebrows raised.

"I'll explain later" Jack said to Cloud when he saw the others incredulous look.

"Oh Jack, Jack, Jack, there isn't going to _be_ a later", Pitch said chidingly. With that final sentence, Pitch curled his hands and let loose a blast of nightmare sand. The black bolt shot like jagged lightning toward the Guardians, only to be caught by a whip of gold. The black sand turned to gold and merged with the whip, increasing the length of it, which Sandy promptly sent shooting at Pitch.

Dodging the attack, Pitch raised his arms into the air, forming a dark blob which hardened into spikes. Before he could launch them though, he found his vision obscured by white. Batting at the vapor, Pitch sputtered, flailing around, eventually clearing his vision, only to find himself being greeted by a giant fist of shimmering yellow. Before he could recover, Pitch found himself being spun around by a whirling white vortex.

Righting himself, Pitch eyed Cloud with contempt "Oh, so the little one want's to play, eh, fine, let's play" But before Pitch could launch so much as a single grain of sand, he saw Cloud smirk, and then, before his and the Guardians eyes, the boy turned pale.

Pale and paler still, his skin, clothing and hair all lightened until he was nothing but a white Cloud shaped cloud, rapidly dissolving into nothing."Where did he-" Was all the Nightmare King managed to sputter before he was cut off.

"Now Jack!" above Pitch, Cloud floated, staff held high, a long string of white stretching into the sky above him.

Pitch moved to look up at the shouting boy, a thin veil of nightmare sand forming armor over his thin frame; and managed to glimpse him swinging his staff down before his vision was obscured by white once again, this time however, it was white in the shape of a hammer, a very _large_ hammer. As Pitch was smashed downward, Jack burst into motion.

With a surge of speed the Wind roiling behind him, Jack shot toward the Nightmare King. Jack slowed down next to Pitch's falling form and with a swing, sent a massive burst of icy energy at the man, sending him rocketing away . . . and right toward the Guardians.

While previously the others had been observing mostly, they leaped into action at the sight of Pitch's uncontrolled approach. The first one to greet Pitch was Sandy. A golden wall formed in front Pitch, which he smashed into. Dissolving the wall, Sandy allowed Pitch to fall briefly before, with a snap of his whips, Sandy caught Pitch by his legs, smashing him into the ground before spinning, and tossing him toward a waiting North.

Attempting to stop his movement toward the Russian Guardian, Pitch sent a spray of sand to blast him back. Unfortunately, his aim was ever so slightly off, due to his erratic pinwheels, and the blast merely flew into the air.

North, swords at the ready, caught the man with a dual swipe, cutting into Pitch's armor and leaving behind a large X. Any normal person would be cut in two, however, Pitch was most definitely not normal, so after a moment, the blades stopped sinking, and he was sent flying through the air once more, propelled by the rest of the cutforce.

The last time Bunnymund had fought against the Nightmare King, he had been using a rather old pair of boomerangs. The Pooka hadn't exactly been expecting a massive battle, and there had been no time to grab another at the warren. This time, he was using a new set, and it showed. Tossing his rangs, Bunnymunds unerring accuracy caught Pitch in midair, doing little to slow his progress until, with a _whump_ they exploded with green energy, sending him careening toward the last Guardian.

Toothiana had been a bit disappointed about how she did in the last battle against Pitch, and even more so at her helplessness to save her fairies; so with firm resolve, she had set out to improve herself whenever she had the time. However, unlike the others, she had no natural ability, North and Bunnymund had their distinctive weapons, as well as immense knowledge of magic. Sandy had just about _everything_, and Jack was an elemental spirit. Toothiana had become slightly depressed as she began to believe that she didn't really have anything to contribute but quick flying, and pretty plumage. It was at that thought that she realized just what she could use. It had taken her weeks to get the basics down, and months to make it effective, creating and honing this particular form of her magic. Finally, after seven months, she had it down to a usable form, and she had been silently itching for a chance to use it.

As Pitch neared her, Tooth elevated herself and began to prepare. Concentrating, Tooth closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. Slowly but surely, her feathers began to brighten, increasing in their sheen until they radiated blue and yellow and green, and then they went beyond that, and shone the colors of the rainbow; then, she began to spin. Faster and faster, until she was a shining blur Tooth spun, and finally, when Pitch was beneath her, she let the energy go.

With a burst of light, a multitude of small rainbow colored objects shot down at Pitch in a brilliant column as he entered the space below her. The combined force of the objects sent him crashing into the ground, his body littered with cuts and small quills, the objects that Tooth shot out being her own, brilliant feathers.

As the snow settled, Pitch stood shakily, bits of his black armor missing, body littered with minor and major cuts, bruises and a severe case of frost bite. Wincing in pain, Pitch hissed; granted most of the smaller cuts would heal in hours, and the larger in a few days, but it still _hurt. _

As the Guardians gathered before him, Tooth missing a few feathers which were already replacing themselves, Pitch grit his teeth and backed down. "You may have won this time, but this isn't anywhere near over, I'll be-" which was as far as he got before he was smacked away by a giant, cloudy . . . golf club?

"FOUR!" Cloud cried, floating down to the waiting Guardians.

"Woah mate, since when can you do that"?, Bunny asked.

"Umm, always" Cloud said, swaying on his feet slightly.

"Are you OK Cloud"? Jack asked concerned.

"I'm fine, can I ask you guys a favor though"

"Sure sweetie" Tooth said, "What is it"

"Can one of you catch me?" and with that, he collapsed.

Before he could hit the snow though, Sandy caught him on a large golden pillow, smiling down at the boy and giving the others a thumbs up.

"Ve should get friend Cloud inside, now"

"Yeah" Jack agreed, following Sandy inside.

Tooth followed lastly, shivering slightly from the chill in the areas where her feathers had yet to grow back. Wings fluttering, she followed after Bunny. As the large Pooka walked inside, however, Tooth caught sight of something lying in the snow.

Settled into the white powder, snow nearly obscuring it already, was a small black key. Ornately made, with small swirls and odd somewhat evil looking faces engraved into it, it was a strange, but beautiful thing.

Picking the key up, Tooth raced after her companions "Hey guys, wait a second, I found something".

I activate, mystic line break

A/N: OK, here's a chapter only a day or two after the last one, which is super rare for me so yay! Also, cliffhangers, whooo. What could the key be? Why did Cloud fall asleep? What is the strange voice in Pitches head? These questions and more will all be answered next time, well, eventually anyway. Until then, Read and Review.


	4. In which things occur

Friend of Frost

A/N: O.K. Now time for a little explanation, as you can probably tell by the increased page size and word count, this is a much longer chapter than the previous ones. I guess you could say the others were exposition, and now that you know what is happening, I can move on and go into more detail. Also from now on, some chapters, or parts of chapters will be from certain characters POV, instead of third. Well, that's about it I guess, so, enjoy the chapter, and tell me what you think.

Beware of the mysterious creature known as a line break

_He's such an odd boy_, Tooth thought as she gazed down at the again sleeping form of the blond teen whom Jack called Cloud. The other Guardians and she had brought him back into the room he had first been resting in, and laid him back down on the couch, this time putting his staff out of any small wandering hands.

North and Bunny had gone to do whatever it was they did when it wasn't one of their respective days, and Sandy was off granting dreams to the children. The only one remaining was Jack, and he was curled up on another couch that he had scooted closer to his unconscious friend.

This act alone was enough to tell her that he was special. To move closer to his friend, Jack was required to move closer to the fire as well, an act he sorely detested. So the question is, just who _is _Cloud? In the brief time he had been with them, he had done things that they themselves were tentative to do.

Without a ounce of doubt, the cloud wielding boy had hugged her youngest college not once, but _twice_, and he only let go because of Bunny, or Jack's choking, not because of Jacks substantially low temperature_. _She herself had hugged Jack on a few occasion, and while it got easier over time, she had had to fight recoiling from the cold the young Guardian exuded at first. But Cloud, for Cloud it wasn't an issue at all. Not only had he breached Jacks bubble with an ease and familiarity that implied a long friendship, but Jack hadn't tensed or pulled back like he had when Tooth started to.

_I'm jealous,_ she realized, _I'm jealous of how much Jack trusts him_. "I guess it is my fault", she murmured under her breath, looking down at the two snoring boys. "I can't expect Jack to suddenly think of me as his best friend; not after so long". Absently she felt something trailing down my cheek, dabbing at what she is sure is the remnent of snow, she is surprised to realize it's a tear.

Before Tooth could continue her inner, and outer monologue, she noticed something. Tooth grinned her brilliant grin, Wings buzzing out of sight one more, and without wasting a second, dashed out of the room. Wings a blur, she darted through the immense work shop shouting "He's waking up" to the Yeti's and elf's below. She was flitting so fast, it shocked her when she ran into the large red belly of North.

"Tooth, vhat is it"?

"It's Cloud; he's waking up" she said excitedly, before flying back to the room, North at her heels.

I think I see a . . . line break

_3rd POV_

Cloud saw the faint red glow of fire light flicker across the lids of his eyes, and after a few seconds of trying to go back to sleep, opened them; big mistake. Immediately, his head began to throb. "Ugh, so there's that headache, I knew getting whacked in the head with a boomerang should have hurt more." Pulling himself up, Cloud realized that he was once again in the room with the door carvings. Unlike before however, his staff was placed very carefully on a set of hooks on the wall. Standing, he walked over to it, grasping the old wood and watching the white trail up toward the tip once more.

"Ahh, that's much better" turning Cloud was about to go searching for everyone when he found _himself_ getting tackled.

"Oh my goodness, are you OK, how's your head, are you tired, what are your teeth like" all these questions battered against Clouds bleary consciousness, nearly making him go cross eyed. He was saved from the torrent of questions by North, who gently picked Tooth up and deposited her in midair.

"Tooth calm down, friend Cloud has just voken up"

"Oh, yeah, I suppose you're right" the plumed woman said sheepishly, teeth glinting in the low light

"Hey wait" Cloud said catching the two Guardians attention, "where's Jack?"

"Oh he's right over there sweetie" Tooth said gesturing toward the couch on which Jack had been napping, been being the operative word, as the red satin was now clearly void of all winter sprites. "Oh . . . well, he was there."

"Yes, but ver did he go." Before North could contemplate further, his attention was diverted by a small smacking sound.

"I think I know", Cloud said in a half annoyed, half amused voice. Turning, Tooth and North were greeted to the sight of the blond haired boys now snow covered head.

"Ehehehe, I see that Jack has gotten you."

"Yes he did, and now I'm going to get him" Before either of them could do anything, the cloud spirit launched himself into the air and out the door.

"Well, he seems fine" Tooth said brightly

OMG, It's Justin Linerbreak (OK, that one was reallllly lame)

"If I were an immortal, frost wielding Spirit, and I was hiding in Santa's magic workshop, where would I hide" Cloud muttered as he roamed throughout Norths abode. Sticking to the ceiling and the shadows, he searched throughout the labyrinthine building, eyes wide for any white haired troublemakers. Abruptly he stopped, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me" Cloud stopped his searching and instead flew over to a window, opened it, and exited the building.

"Alright wind, show me where he is" the ever present winds took Cloud into a firmer embrace and sent him flying over the top of the workshop. Coming down on the other side, Cloud continued his descent until he was beneath the large building, and entered a small ice cave.

Feet ghosting over the sharp icy floor, Cloud drifted through the many stalagmites and stalactites, until, near the back, he found his query. Sitting on top of a small ice ledge, Jack chuckled under his breath, form shaking until he pulled out a small rectangular device with a flat screen. On it were four different, smaller screens, and they all showed different areas of the workshop. "Aww, man, I'm so glad North finally started to make spy gear for the kids; this is perfect."

Cloud increased his altitude, ceasing his ascent near the roof of the cave. "Now, where did he go?" Jack pondered aloud, completely oblivious to his friends now descending form. Coming to a stop just over Jacks shoulder, Cloud waited for a few more moments, watching Jack go through multiple screens before he took a large breath and.

"BOOOOO!"

"AHHHH!" Jack shot into the air, smacking into the ceiling. Laughing, Cloud followed him up, arriving just in time to watch Jack peel himself off of the unforgiving ice.

"Oh, man you suck"

"And you're a creep, I mean really Jack, watching me like that, weeeiiirrrd" Jack responded by sticking his tongue out.

"Meh" he said

"Mleh" Cloud countered

"Blah" Jack pulled against his nose

"Plll" Cloud responded

The two continued their facial spar for several more moments before it became to much, and they began to laugh.

"Oh, oooohhhh I've missed you dude" Jack said slinging an arm around his friend. It was odd, after Cloud being gone for so long, he felt like it should have been slightly different, but the blond teen just slid right back into place, as if he had never left, filling up the niche he had left empty when he vanished.

"Ditto" Cloud replied, mimicking his action before giving Jack a noggie, which the later replied to in kind. The pair exited the cave and rose up to Norths shop once more, landing before the large doors and walking inside. Strolling through the building, the pair casually stole cookies( for Jack), and some hot chocolate (for Cloud). With cookies and beverage in hand they continued their journey through the building, eventually coming to a stop in the Globe room. Once there, Cloud promptly let out a gasp.

"Woah, this place is awesome" Cloud murmured, trying to gather his breath.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, and it only took me 240 years to get in."

"You finally managed to break in" Cloud said looking at Jack incredulously, "I thought for sure Phil would have pounded you if you tried again"

"Yeah well, I was kinda stuffed into a sack and thrown through a portal"

"Oh, well that makes much more sense, I mean seriously, after that whole fiasco with the snow cone machine, and all of that dye,I'm guessing they would've killed you if you tried again"

"I did, about five years later, never even got close"

"Well, I always _was_ the brains of the outfit"

"Oh yeah right"

"Thank you for agreeing"

"That's not what I meant"

"Whatever you say"

"You know I'm going to get you for this later, right?"

"You can try Jack, you can try"

"Are we interrupting something?" an Australian voice called. The two nature spirits turned and were met with the sight of one E. Aster Bunnymund, along with Tooth, Sandy and North.

"Hey wait, aren't you the one who whacked me in the head?" Cloud questioned.

Bunny looked mildly sheepish "Uh yeah, sorry bout that mate, no hard feelins right?"

"Sure" Cloud said in an overly friendly voice, "no hard feelings" abruptly, Bunny found himself drenched in water as the mini-cloud Cloud had formed burst. "No hard feelings starting now" Bunny merely glared through his wet fur.

"Alright you little blighter, I guess I deserved that"

"Yes, yes you did"

"Alright, this is all in the good fun, but now ve must get down to business".

"Which is?"

"We'll, Jack knows you very vell, but ve know almost nozing about you, so the question is, _who are you_, Cloud?" Jack and Cloud glanced at each other briefly before the later sighed and spoke.

"Alright, if you really want to know, my story began nearly ninety years ago"

wizened linebreak uses special move, flashback

_It was 1925, and I was an up and coming bonds salesman, back then I went by the name Rick. I had just moved to a place called Lest Wegg, situated in long island sound, and it was there that I met a man by the name Ray Natsby, I-_

"Wait a minute, You're stealing this from the Great Gatsby" Bunny said accusingly, glaring at the boy.

"OK, technically yes, I am, but I met Fitzgerald once, sort of anyway, and I had similar idea at the time."

"Just tell us the real story" Bunny voiced grumpily.

"Alright, alright, my real story began 113 years ago.

_Kansas was very boring growing up, and my only real family was Uncle E, and Aunty Hen. Of course, I also had my dog Fodo; anyway, everything changed when the big twister hi-_

Again Bunny glared at the smiling boy, tapping his foot impatiently as Jack laughed in the background.

"Your _real_ real story, if that isn't too much trouble." Once more Cloud sighed before dropping his jovial expression.

"OK, you want the truth, I don't _know_ where I come from, or what my story is, everything's a blank until 1883."

"Really?" Tooth asked, "you don't remember anything before that"

"Nothing, I didn't even get a name from The Big Man, why do you think my name is Cloud, I woke up in a cloud bank.

"That's something I've been wondering about for a while, just how common _is_ amnesia for Spirits" Jack broke in, "I mean there's me, and Cloud, anyone else?"

"I dunno" Aster said shrugging.

"Hah, the Easter Kangaroo admits not knowing something" Jack said laughing, "You", he said turning to Cloud, "owe me twenty bucks"

"I've been asleep for twenty years, I don't have any money; I didn't even have any money before".

"Wait, you made a bet to see if one of you could get me to admit not knowin' something?"

"Yes" they said simply.

"Well I can't know everything"

"So" Jack replied smugly, stating in more than asking.

"Yeah well, why don't any of the skinny, staff wielding spirits have shoes, huh?" At this, the Guardians realized that, yes in fact, both Jack and Cloud lacked shoes.

"How should I know, it probably has something to do with the way I died"

"I bit it in a lake, maybe it has to do with temperature, or something"

"That's ridiculous", Bunny said breaking into the conversation.

"Vhy?" North asked the Pooka voice rich with amusment

"Because, plenty of spirits have died in the cold, and they came out with their memories perfectly intact" Bunnymund answered logically, knocking some of the wind out of their sails so to speak."

"I guess, it was just what needed to happen" Tooth said thoughtfully, "I mean, if Jack had his memories, who knows what might have happened, we might not have become friends, or he might not have helped us at all"

"Hey, I take offense to that" Jack said laughing as he tried to hold an angry expression and failing spectacularly.

"But, we have your teeth in my palace, I'm sure we can find them, and then, you can get your memories back."

Bunny oncemore broke into the conversation "Amnesia aside, I've got a few questions for you kid."

"Ask away" Cloud said, a white floating couch forming beneath him and Jack, which the two plopped down on

"What was-" Bunny stopped, "mate, you're driften a bit"

"What, oh sorry" Cloud prompted the puffy sofa to descend slightly

"Right", Bunny continued, "So what was that move you pulled on Pitch earlier"

"Which one?"

"All of them, not many things can hit a shadow" here he paused, "well, not many _used_ to be able to hit a shadow, it's a little easier now, what I mean is; what is it that you can do exactly"

Cloud pondered for a moment before he replied, "Well, like you saw earlier, I can condense my clouds into solid constructs capable of inflicting direct damage. I can also form, I suppose you could call them cloud clones using my magic. And of course, I have my Silver Linings."

"Silver Linings?" Tooth inquired.

"It's this faint lining I can form around anything cloudlike, it helps to make people more creative."

"They're like twins" Bunnymund mumbled to Sandy, who nodded, smiling. To Cloud he asked "And those giant ones, is attacking the only thing they can do or what?"

"No, I can form constructs from them, though they require more maintanence the bigger they are, I can also use them to find people if I know them well enough, and they are atleast partially exposed to the sky, even if only for a short time".

Bunnymund whistled "sounds like you've got quite the repertoire mate, I'm guessin' they're a little tiring though" he said innocently in reference to Clouds flight from wakefulness after the battle.

Before Cloud could answer this question, likely with another dousing of water on the now miraculously dry Pooka, a most curious thing occurred. All around them, throughout the entire room, the shadows drew back, until everything was bathed in light. Above them, the moon's light shone brighter, and brighter, suffusing everything in it's silver glow. Suddenly, the room flashed, and the Guardians and Cloud found themselves suspended in a comforting silver void.

_Sanderson, you must go._

"Go, go ver?" North asked somewhat groggily, his mind mildly drifting.

_To the Hall of Sands_

Sandy, who looked much more awake than any of the others, nodded.

_You must go now, and take the others._

At this, Sandy looked perplexed, and he seemed to enter a silent conversation with Manny.

_Yes, now go, go, goooooooo_

The silver faded and the group found themselves slumped on the ground.

"Soooo", Cloud said after a few seconds, "what's The Hall of Sand's?"

Sandy sighed and instead of answering in his own way; brought his arms swooshing up into the air. Jack looked around, as did the others. "So, what was that suppo-" Bunnymund never finished that sentence, as golden sand rushed in through the door and windows, surrounding the group in a swath of sand, though there were pockets to protect them from the somanbolic effect it held. The roiling mass rushed through the building, and out into the cold air. Quickly, it took on a more solid form, that of a ship, and sailed through the sky. After the others were released from the sands grip, they found themselves in a large room, equipped with a sand couch and sand chairs and sand . . . well everything.

"Sandy, you did not answer friend Cloud's question"

Sandy nodded, and with a gesture, he summoned a book from a Sandshelf. Unlike everything else they had seen on the ship, this was not made of the golden grains. The book was large and thick, with golden lettering written intricately across the cover. Though it was doubtlessly hundreds of years old, the paper was as smooth as the day it was made. Gathering the others, the Sandman took a deep breath and opened the book, and the world was eclipsed in gold.

Line break appears suddenly and blocks your way

A/N: We'll, there's that done, and to protect my fragile ego, I am enforcing a firm policy, five reviews before the next chapter update, that's right five, because I'm ccccrrrraaazzzyyyyy, also you get a cookie.

P.S. Some readers might notice that I changed (more like deleted and then rewritten) the conversation between Cloud and the group. I did this becuase I, in a moment of sleep deprived lunacy, changed alot of stuff that happened in the book (sort of), also I just didn't like their reactions. Sorry, and I do apologize for this oversight.

P.S.S yes, for those out there that are wondering, I took some heavy liberties with what the word somanbolic means (especially since it's not really a word, but more of an alteration of somnambulism).


	5. History that isn't so boring

Friend of Frost

A/N: OK, since the review mark is at a nice even 10 (at least right now anyway) here's the next chapter, enjoy.

Thar she blows, and she be a line break

Jack's vision was briefly obscured by the harsh shining light, before it faded. Blinking away the dancing spots, he realized his current location had drastically changed. Stretching in all directions was a large, spanning desert. Grains of sand tumbled over each other along the desert floor, carried by the faintest wind. Jack's ears caught the lightest of sounds emanating from the shifting particles, like dying whispers from the deserts ghost's.

Great dunes rose and fell, sweeping across the terrain in swaths. The sky was occupied solely by a blurred sun, though strangely he felt no heat. Jack thought he might be merely hallucinating the fact the lack of temperature when he saw what looked like a moving part of the desert.

After blinking for a few seconds, he realized that it was Sandy, who blended into his surroundings excellently. Hearing a loud groan, Jack turned and was met with the sight of a bleary looking Bunny.

"Oi, Sandy, what the heck was that" Bunny grumbled as he sat up, ears twitching.

"Yes, I have to be agreeing with Bunny, were are ve?" North intoned, sitting up and dusting off bits of sand from his coat.

A few feet from North, Cloud sat up and glanced around at their new surroundings before muttering "I hate deserts" a small pout on his face.

"Why?" Tooth said, having pulled herself off the sandy desert floor and resumed her normal hover.

"There aren't any cloud's" Jack answered before Cloud could even open his mouth.

"Jack you stole my line".

"Oh whatever" Before the two could get into another argument that would have likely ended in a battle of blue sparks and silver linings, Sandy interrupted. A large wave of sand swept over the two, knocking them over and burying them under it, the only thing remaining visible, being half of their legs from the knees down. The lump of sand shifted and heaved as the legs disappeared back into the sand and after a few seconds, two lumps fell out of the side.

Coughing and spluttering, the two teen spirits reoriented themselves and pulled themselves out of the sand; Jack coughing up bits of the grains and Cloud trying to knock some of it out of his ears. When the two finished removing the sand, they found the rest of the group looking at them expectantly once more.

"If you two are done?" North asked eyebrow raised, "I believe Sandy vas going to speak . . . sort of." The rest of the group except for Jack looked around for the golden Guardian for a second or so before Jack coughed and pointed at the moving sand. A look of comprehensions covered the others faces before they laughed sheepishly, Bunny and Cloud scratching their heads.

"So uh, Sandy you gonna explain what were doin' 'er? Bunny asked.

Sandy nodded, smiling, and gestured for the others to follow him before floating up into the sky. "I guess we follow him" Tooth said, following the golden man. Jack and Cloud shrugged following Tooth, and leaving North and Bunny to follow behind as the only non flight capable Guardians. Bunny bounded over the loose grains, occasionally slipping on the new terrain, but keeping up for the most part, North . . . not so much.

The large Russian kept slipping and sliding over the dunes, falling backwards and tumbling down the dunes before eventually taking off his black boots and running over the hills barefoot. The two finally caught up with the rest of the group, who had stopped at a small, nondescript outcropping of rocks that was sunk into the ground.

Tooth was, for once, sitting on the sandy ground, and seemed to be fiddling with something small and black. Jack and Cloud were sitting a few feet from her, and were playing a game of tic-tack-toe with frost and silver. Sandy himself was lying on a floating pile of sand just above the ground and yawning.

As Bunny leaped down into the clearing, North followed behind him, though his looked more like a trip and fall, than a jump. The sound of North's, er- _landing,_ got the others attention, and snapped Sandy out of his daze. Jack and Cloud dissolved their game and wondered over to the two Guardians.

"OK, _now _can you tell us what's happening, what exactly _is_ the Hall of Sands?" Bunny asked once more, tapping his foot impatiently. Thankfully, unlike in the real world, this didn't open up any tunnels, which was strange, as Sandy still seemed capable of manipulating his element, and Tooth, Jack, and Cloud could still fly. Well, Tooth had wings, but Cloud and Jack's mode of transportation was more akin to being tossed about like a rag-doll by the Wind; at least in his eyes.

Before Bunnymund could ponder on this though, the ground beneath them shifted. Spiraling open under their unsuspecting feet, it yawned open, and everyone but Sandy fell down into the the newly formed pit. Groaning, Jack and Cloud found themselves once again buried, this time under a Russian man and a giant rabbit. Tooth sat on top of the pile, perfectly fine, and giggled at the others before hopping off.

"Ahh" Bunny said, after standing, pushing against his spine "I think you broke by back North."

"Vhat is you talking about, your spine is fine Bunny" North replied chuckling before smacking the others back heartily. As soon as North turned away, Bunny winced, holding back a hiss. Turning away, the wince became a look of disbelief, and then a grin followed by a deep chuckle. The object of his amusement, or rather object_s,_ were Jack and Cloud.

The two nature spirits has been squished against the floor and their staffs, and their faces bisected by a long red mark.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up" Jack said.

"But we'll get you" Cloud continued, still stuck underneath Jack. Coughing from the dust he inhaled, Cloud peeled himself from the floor after Jack rolled himself over and off of him.

As the two stood stood up, the ceiling above them closed, and they realized that the room they were in was rather small, and covered with glowing ruins. Despite being dust covered, the runes still glowed with a glimmering golden hue.

After another few seconds of everyone dusting themselves off, they turned to Sandy, only to find him once more napping on one of his small, floating sand banks.

"Sandy" Tooth said lightly, floating over to him, Sandy's reaction was to roll over. "Sandy" she said a bit loader, Sandy waved her away, eyes never opening. "Sandy" she said just a touch louder than before, poking him, Sandy drew up a wall of sand around him. "SANDY!" she yelled; immediately the wall of sand dropped as Sandy looked out with wide eyes. "Weren't we going somewhere?" Tooth asked.

Sandy nodded sleepily, rubbing his eyes and gestured to them once more, and floated toward the wall. Once there, Sandy dropped until he was just above the ground and drifted down what they realized was a long, narrow, _tiny_ hallway that was nearly invisible to anyone at a normal height.

"How are we gonna fit through there"? Bunny asked the others. Tooth merely shrugged, dropping to her knees and crawled through the opening.

"OK, so Toothy can fit, but what about the rest of us?" Jack and Cloud grinned at each other before they dropped down as close to the floor as they could while still floating. Levitating a centimeter above the ground, the two chuckled at Bunny's expression before drifting, one after the other, through the hole.

As they floated into the darkness, their voices drifted back to taunt him. "Poor Kangaroo" Jacks voice called back.

"Kangaroo"? Clouds questioning tone floated back to North and Bunny, "I though he was a wallaby"? The last bit was softer and eventually, all sound stopped emanating from the tunnel.

"North, you've gotta be on my side."

"Sorry Bunny, but I have to vit down chimney's every year, and some children don't even have them, I sometimes have to go under zhe door vey, or through zhe stove pipes, this is nothing."

"But you only do that for a couple of states each year."

"But I still do it" and so saying, the large Russian man dropped to the floor and _somehow_ managed to fit through the hole.

"I don't bloody believe this" Bunny mumbled, before he too got down on his knees and began his journey through the tunnel. Through constantly shifting his shoulders, Bunny wiggled his way through the tunnel, though his arms and knees were chaffed at the end.

Crawling out the other side, Bunny found the others waiting for him and looking none the worse for wear, particularly Jack and Cloud who were grinning at him. Rubbing his shoulders, Bunny stood, and looked around for Sandy. Said spirit was floating around on a small sand dragon, and seemed to be looking warily at Toothiana.

The room the tunnel had led to was larger then the one they had arrived in. The walls here also bore runes, though the golden light they exuded was brighter than the ones before. The center of the room was taken up by a large tome with faint etching on the cover.. If one were to look closer, and if that one were old enough or smart enough, they would realize those etchings were in fact words in the language of the Golden Age. The tome rested on an even larger stone stand.

"So Bunny, what took you so long?" Jack asked, grinning light heartedly as he crouched on his crook.

"It ain't easy getting through those tunnels you larriken. Some of us aren't ridiculously skinny teenage spirits."

"Why didn't you go tiny Bunny then" Jack inquired innocently

"What's tiny Bunny"? Cloud questioned.

"Oh you have to see it, he get's all small and fluffy an-"

"So Sandy, are we there yet?" Tooth said, trying to interrupt the imminent argument.

Sandy nodded in agreement, and motioned the others over to the book. As the group gathered, Sandy tapped the books cover and closed his eyes. After a few seconds of concentration, Sandy's eyes snapped open, and the book sprang to life, cover slamming back as the pages rushed, flickering past first one way, then another. As the pages continued to ruffle, a wind sprang to life in the chamber, blowing long settled dust around.

The pages finally calmed down, the dust settling as the light from the runes glowed brighter. Before anyone could say anything though, the book itself shone, and then it spoke.

_Long ago_, the book began,_ there was a great evil of terrible power_. Here the book paused, as if waiting for something, before resuming it's story._ Tsar Lunanoff fought against this evil, but though he prevailed every time, it arose again, for you can never truly kill the darkness completely. _"Boy doesn't **that **sound familiar" Jack muttered before being shushed by Bunnymund.

_To protect the world from this force, the Tsar trapped the evil in the Hall of Sands, for that was where it's power resided; in the dark sand of Nightmare. The hall was sealed, and the power kept in check by the other ancient Sands, until one day, something terrible happened. The dark sand's seal was weakened, and it leaked out._

The book paused again, and Jack realized that he was leaning forward, waiting for the next part of the tale. A brief glance around revealed that the other Guardians were as well, and Cloud was actually floating toward the book, his face doing nothing to bely his enrapturement. Jack grabbed his friend's ankle and tugged him back down to the ground; Cloud didn't seem to notice. The book began to speak again, and Jack snapped back to attention.

_Though small in amount, this twisted power crept through the world, inciting Nightmares all around. It was then, that the Spirit known as Pitch Black discovered this power, and began trying to harness it for himself. Though he could not totally free the Nightmare Sand, he could draw power from it. It was with this power that he began what was known as the dark ages. Though he could not use the Sand itself, it increased his powers, and cast his hand of darkness over the world, leaving only small areas protected from his evil._

This time, it was North who grabbed Cloud, and tugged away from the book.

_It was then that the Tsar created his protectors. The last of the Pooka's, The Master of Wonder, The Restful Star, and The warrior Queen. These four creatures became the sword by which he struck Pitch down, for he could not do it himself. These kind and powerful creatures took an oath to serve as his protectors, his defenders, his champions, his Guardians. The Guardians rose against Pitch, and struck him down, and the fallen warrior was trapped, and locked away in his shadows._

By this time, Cloud was so enthralled with the story that Sandy had to snag him with his Sand Whips and tie him down.

_While Pitch was gone, the threat was not over. The Sand that he had accumulated deserted, guided by their corrupted sentience, for the Dark Sand was not but gold turned black. The Sands dispersed throughout the world, sowing it's seed of chaos and horror wherever it went. It was then that the Restful Star, now known as The Sandman, began his task of combating the Nightmares. He cast his threads of gold over the world, seeking out the small dark grains, and restoring them to their previous state, bonding with the Sand as he had his own. _

Sandy smiled at this, and patted his Sand Dragon affectionately. Then he reinforced his Sand Ropes as Cloud was trying to escape again

_While the Sandman watched over the world of the children's and adults dreams, the other Guardians got to work. The Pooka, or Bunnymund, sought to restore hope to the people of the world, for they had lost most of it during Pitch's reign. The Master of Wonder, North, began to reawaken the dormant wonder people had locked away in their hearts. The Warrior Queen, known as Toothiana, began to collect the stories and tales of people's lives, their brightest, happiest, most important memories, to aid them when things grew to bad for them to bear._

At this, all of the older Guardians smiled in reminiscence.

_So it went, for centuries, as the Guardians watched over the world, though as time passed, their focus drifted to children, for as the world grew, and man and woman advanced, they began to lose their belief. But not the children, for no one can ever truly destroy a child's belief, something so pure and powerful, that even when extinguished, it will spark to life given the slightest chance._

_So the Guardians worked, and guided the world, even as they faded into myth for most, for few but children can carry the spark of the belief in their hearts. But all is not laid to rest, for the seal is still weakened, and the sand may still leak and corrupt; and so The Sandman, His Nocturnal Magnificence, Watcher and Lord High Protector of sleep and dreams, Sanderson Mansnoozie, must keep watch, ever wary of the breaking of the seal._

With this final line, the book ceased glowing, and snapped shut with a resounding BOOM! Cloud snapped out of his apparent trance, and found himself bound in shimmering ropes. "Uh, can someone get me out of these things."

"So mate, like the story much?" Bunny asked jokingly before chuckling.

"It's a good story" Cloud answered defensively. Bunny was about to continue his ribbing, but before he could, the world fell to pieces. The walls, the floor, even the air it's self flashed gold before splintering and falling to pieces. The group, Sandy included, fell though the golden void.

Sudden and dramatic line break attack

Unlike their slow rising before, the Guardians and Cloud snapped to attention immediately. They were still inside the Sand Ship, but unlike it had been moving previously, the ship was rocking back and forth. Sandy, face determined, flung his hand up, and the floor rose up beneath them as the ceiling opened.

The sand column stopped it's ascension as it reached the deck of the ship. While everything seemed fine at the top, the ship still continued it's erratic behavior, and the group quickly discovered why. Moving to the side, they found that a stream of black sand was smashing against the starboard side of the ship. Small bits of blackened sand broke off from the streams and fell out of the sky, while others turned golden. Most of the sand however, seemed to be trying to merge with the ship, staining the side dark before the rest of the ship surged in protection.

North and Bunny were almost thrown overboard when the ship was struck on the other side. Tumbling over end, the two found their footing and peered over the port side, revealing another stream of sand. Sandy rose up on one of his sand comets, and looked down on the ship, his fists clenched. Raising his hands, Sandy cast down two long streams of golden sand, sending them crashing into the streams.

The golden sand poured through into the dark, touching and purifying it as it went before the main part of each stream broke away. Not one to be deterred, Sandy changed his approach. Small shining darts shot out from his comet, peppering the hoard of dark sand. Where each missile hit, a small circle of gold appeared, and the nightmare sand was forced to relinquish some of these purified bits, even as it tried to reconvert others.

Unbeknownst to Sandy, however, a thin stream of sand was rising behind him. The dark form solidified, condensing itself into a thin blade before slashing down at the golden man. A second before it could impact though, a shimmering bolt shot through it, and dispersed the sand.

Sandy turned and gave Tooth a welcoming smile which she returned as she flitted by, wings blurring and feathers flying, alternating between slicing with her wings, and puncturing with her feathers.

North had both of his swords at the ready, and was presently slicing down streams of sand, and splitting them around his form. Words flew from his lips, and lights danced along his swords as he cut the sand down, not purifying it as Sandy could, but rendering it inert.

Bunnymund was actually enjoying himself as the he sent his boomerang's slicing through the dark grains, green energy hammering against, and shearing through them. A slight, eerie whisper of sand on sand was his only warning before a dark stream coiled around his ankle. Jumping, he broke the chain and twisted through the air, grabbing eggs and throwing some in one fluid motion. The small, deceptively cheerful projectiles embedded themselves in the sand before exploding.

Jack and Cloud were currently being besieged by a thick column of nightmare sand, and were pressed back to back as it encircled them. A stream of cloud shoot from Cloud's weapon, batting back the sand on his side; as Jack sent a wave of frost crashing into his own. As their forms whirled around, energy discharging from their weapons as they did so, the two fell into a comfortable rhythm.

"Wait" Cloud said suddenly, "doesn't this seem a little easy?"

"I know" Jack answered, "Come to think of it, I'm fairly sure any of us could do this alone"

"So, why is it taking so long?" Cloud asked as he sent a sneaking strand of Sand away with a blast of silver light.

"That is a good question" Jack said, before sending out a bolt of frost energy into the wall of sand. The black stream froze almost instantly, and Jack looked around.

"Well" Cloud said, "that was easy". The duo hopped over the wall of sand, and rejoined the others, who were still in the middle of battling the now blatantly pathetic amount's of dark sand.

"Um, guys, you do know that the sand isn't that tough, right?" Jack questioned. The rest of the Guardians looked at him quizzically, stopping their battles for a moment. After a second or so of contemplation, they realized that Jack was correct. Even though they had stopped actively fighting, the sand still hadn't overwhelmed them.

"Jack's right" Tooth said, "this is much easier than before."

"Iz because Pitch is not here to control sand himself, he must be somevere else."

"Plus that blighters got to be weak from the pounding we gave im' earliah'

"It really was not ze smartest move, very unlike him"

"Um guys, as easy as this is, you do realize that the nightmare sand has disappeared, don't you?" Cloud asked.

The Guardians turned toward Cloud and saw that the sand that they had been battling was indeed gone. Not a single dark grain was left on the ship, though Sandy still looked troubled when he came down. Before anyone could ask what was wrong though, they got their answer.

The nightmare sand hadn't merely disappeared, it had regrouped; more importantly, it had reformed. A large black tail wrapped itself around the ship, and two great obsidian claws rose from the sides and crashed down, digging into the dream sand. Once more, the disturbing sound of nightmare sand on dream sand became apparent, and an onyx head rose from the aft side of the ship.

Dark, sharp looking teeth filled the mouth of the beast, and a dark mane extended behind it, with small, horn like protrusions extending out of the mass. A long whisker exited on either side of it's face, and the lower jaw was adorned with a thick black beard. In total, it looked like a traditional Chinese dragon, and the inverse of Sandy's own creation that he had made in the book.

The Guardians and Cloud stared up at the beast.

"A dragon, isn't that a little cliché" Cloud wondered, eyebrow raised.

The creatures mouth opened in fury, and a seething swirling mass appeared at the back of it's throat. The dragon seemed to take a deep breath, about to blast the group with nightmare sand . . . only to be promptly blasted to bits by a sand cannon courtesy of Sandy. The sand construct sunk back into the ship, as the dragon began to glow, suffused with a golden light.

Bits of black grew brighter, and brighter until they were once more their untarnished gold. The Sand Ship swelled in size as it integrated the mass of new sand.

"Well that was a waste of time" Jack said.

"Tha's exactly what it was mate, a waste of time, Pitch was stallin' us".

"He did not do a very good job of it" North said.

"Why's that?" Cloud inquired.

"Judging by zhe fact that ve are descending, I'd say ve are here?" North answered turning to the starboard side. Below them, the sight of the silver desert floor at night came into view.

"It's bloody cold" Bunnymund shivered; honestly he didn't know how Toothy wasn't bothered by it, she was covered in _feathers_ for crying out loud!

As the Sand Ship touched down, the group hopped, floated, and slid down the side of the ship, which promptly seemed to sink into the desert floor.

"So where are we Sandy?" Bunnymund asked.

"My guess is a desert" Cloud said dryly.

Bunny rolled his eyes, "I meant _which_ desert you dipstick."

North interrupted "now is no time to be arguing" he said, "Sandy is working."

The smallest Guardian was standing perfectly still, arms out stretched as he face scrunched up slightly in concentration. With careful movements, he brought his hands together, forming a cup; before drawing them back towards his chest, backs against each other. With slow, deliberate measure, he pulled them apart and tilted them until his fingures were pointing at each other and his palms were facing away; then he _pushed_.

In front of the group, the sand began to shift. Slowly at first, then faster, and faster, until waves of the sand were blowing away, spread out across the desert floor. A small hollow formed in the sand, and gradually it grew deeper. First just a small indent, then something that looked like a step, and then another and another. As the Sands continued to blow away, the sides of the sand pit began to smooth, until they became solid walls. Two large indents formed at the end of the pit, and were revealed to be columns.

After another few seconds of shifting, Sandy lowered his hands. The small man moved in his usual manner toward the now revealed steps, the group following behind him. They came to a stop in front of the two large columns, between which was a solid wall of sand encased with a golden hue. Reaching forward Sandy laid his palm against the wall of sand. A small wave emanated from Sandy's hand, rippling over the wall of sand before it came crashing down, and merged with the desert floor, just as Sandy's ship had.

From the now revealed opening, a dark maw reached out toward them. Sandy's face settled into a small scowl.

North stood behind him, swords drawn, and Tooth and Bunnymund took up positions on either side. Jack and Cloud rounded the formation off on each end, staffs at the ready.

"He iz here"

Cliiiiffffhannngggeerrr

Alright, here is the (completely and utterly late) next chapter. Sorry it took ridiculously long, and I could totally say that it took forever to write, but the truth is that I wrote three fourths of this today. I know, I know, I'm a horrible, horrible person; but on the plus side, this chapter is not only 4324 words (according to my open office, not counting line breaks and notes, or even the title) BUT, it also marks my first fic to ever reach over ten thousand (it's the first to make it past five thousand too, but ten thousand sounds more impressive, even if it isn't really; oh well baby-steps, baby-steps and milestones) so WHOOH. Alright now that I'm done hurting my poor, poor Caps Lock button, time to say bye, soooooo . . . bye.

P.S. Feel free to not believe me, but I will try to update much sooner than I have been.

P.S.S I'm sure I'm forgetting something, something in the AN, but I can't seem to remember wha- oh right, technically I got ¾'s of this done _yesterday_ because it's past midnight here.


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